Caesarean sections rise 53% in U.S. in 11 years

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New figures form the National Center for Health Statistics show that the percentage of American babies being born via Caesarean section has risen 53% since 1996. 32% of babies born in 2007 were delivered by C-Section. Though C-Sections can help protect the lives of both mother and child during delivery, the infant mortality rate has remained virtually flat over that same time period, according to figures from the CDC, and Amnesty International notes a marked rise in the percentage of U.S. women who have nearly died while giving birth since 1988.

The increased numbers of C-Sections, hovering American infant mortality rate, and rise in near death situations for women giving birth in our country may say more about the lack of adequate prenatal care than in the overall efficacy of the Caesarean method. The rise in obesity is one, and the increased number of pregnant women lacking insurance seems to have been another:

With nearly 13 million women of reproductive age without health insurance, pregnant women in the United States face hurdles to get prenatal care. State run insurance is difficult for all but the extremely poor to obtain.

One in four women do not have proper prenatal care from the beginning of their pregnancy.

Thank goodness for health care reform. But there are other reasons (and paradoxes) for the increase in C-Sections than the lack of good prenatal care.

Rising multiple births due to fertility treatments have a role, because they often require Caesareans. But, the report notes, Caesarean rates for singletons increased substantially more than those for multiples. Another factor is that more older women are giving birth nowadays, and they are more likely to have Caesareans–but women under 25 had the greatest increases from Caesareans from 2000 to 2007.

Doctors, too, seem much more comfortable with the procedure than in past decades, especially doctors in New Jersey, where 38.3% of all births are done by C-section. In Utah, meanwhile, just 22.2% of births are.

Caesarean sections should be avoided for women who are seeking to have more than one child as complications tend to arise in subsequent pregnancies after a C-Section has been employed in previous ones.